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$480 per child 12 and under

Alberta dispensing promised money for parents affected by teacher strike

Oct 31, 2025 | 1:32 PM

Alberta is beginning its rollout of compensation for families whose children were kept out of classrooms during a three-week teachers strike.

Premier Danielle Smith’s government promised $30 a day for parents and guardians of each child 12 and under.

The strike led to 16 missed days of instruction, meaning a payout of $480 per child, with higher payouts for children with special needs.

The money was promised last month before teachers walked off the job Oct. 6, leaving more than 740,000 students out of classrooms in public, separate and francophone schools.

The strike screeched to a halt when Smith’s government passed a bill this week forcing teachers back to work, imposing a new collective bargaining agreement and using the Charter’s notwithstanding clause to shield the law from a court challenge.

The payments are to come from funds saved by the province that would have gone to teacher salaries if it had not been for the strike.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31, 2025.